Maybe i'm old school in thinking this....

[crafty]

I appreciate this post so much ! I very much agree it's going to far with the "Hovering" I was just at a playgroup this am with 3 kids and my own 13 mo and there was a mom following her 2.5 yo around CONSTANTLY. Everything was padded for gosh sakes and other than a 3 foot high indoor type slide. Needles to say she "OMG GASP" when my 13 month old fell from a ride on car and I felt like the worst mom ever because I did not even go see her. She wasn't crying she moved on on her own ... but then I started thinking ... should I have picked her up just so I don't look like this big mean mom who doesn't care ? hahaha Problem is none of us should care what other people think. But I get it, I also don't go places sometimes just because I fear how people will judge me even though I am 100% capable of handling it. But honestly why visit a playgroup if YOU are the one playing and following your kids 100% of the time. Poor kid never has a chance to play with a child and have experiences of his own.

Thanks for posting hope you guys all have a great weekend!

[kindertime]

... but then I started thinking ... should I have picked her up just so I don't look like this big mean mom who doesn't care ?

NO. Because what you were doing was being an example for the other parents. You were sitting calmly while your child went to explore the world. I often wonder if the parents who hover secretly know they are being ridiculous, and wish that they could stop.

I have a couple of Little Tykes ride-on cars, (the one with the roof) and every child who has been here as a toddler has at least once gotten stuck. Turned around backwards, on their knees, where they can't get up because the steering wheel is in their back and they are pushing with their feet and the car keeps rolling backwards. I just watch. They might be screeming bloody murder, and the other kids are wondering why I won't help, and I'm sure the parents would be horrified, but I just keep thinking about all the things the child is learning. Learning about their body, spacial relations, physics, problem solving, emotional control and of course the sense of satisfaction that they fixed it themselves! Why on earth would I take that away from them?